Tuesday, 24 September 2013

Lucy's Little Flower Dress...

This is my second time making Lucy's Little Flower Dress, on this occasion as a gift for a little baby. And now that the outfit has reached it's destination, I can show you.

The first time I sewed this dress, I made the dress length, with a ruffle. Little bloomers peeking out look so cute on toddlers, so this time, I've made the shorter tunic length, in a size one.

Don't be put off with the shirring around the neckline and armholes. I procrastinated about shirring for a long time, before I made my first Lucy's Little Flower Dress, but to my delight, the shirring was very easy to do.

I believe it can sometimes be a little harder with machines that have top loading bobbins, but I've also heard there are ways of overcoming this.

Can anyone elaborate on shirring with machines that have top loading bobbins?

If you've tried shirring, I'd love you to leave a comment about your experiences... me, I'm hooked!!! Your experiences may help other readers.

One of the reasons I chose Lucy's Flower Dress, is that the first dress was SO easy to take on and off; a definite plus for a toddler.

I thought about adding a little shirred pocket in a contrasting fabric, but I couldn't decide on the fabric to use. Besides, a toddler probably wouldn't use it anyway.

The dress has been teamed with a pair of bloomers, made using the 30 Minute Shorts pattern. As with previous bloomers, I've simply added shirring to the legs instead of a hem.

Both of these patterns are available from Create HOPE Designs, an organisation supporting orphans and their communities. Head on over to their Etsy store or BigCartel to see the other pattern that are available; all for $5 USD... guilt free pattern shopping helping needy children.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm I've never done a project with shirring as it doesn't look like a technique I could do --- it looks very difficult, and I just can't imagine winding a bobbin with elastic - it boggles the mind, lol. It looks like you mastered the technique though - some little muffin-ette is going to look mighty adorable in that outfit!

I thought whirring was really hard too, but was pleasantly surprised. I haven't done it a lot, but I remember getting mixed instructions. Some resources said to wind very tight, others said to wind looser. I think different machines prefer different tensions for shirring.

I love your little outfit! It looks sweet and delicate:) reminds me of a baby outfit I bought when mine was tiny! Aww!

Thanks again Pam for this gorgeous gift! I can't wait to put it on baby and show off the pics :-)You've done a fantastic job with the shirring! It's funny, I've seen alot of people lately saying that they've only just attempted shirring, that it looked tricky etc. It was the one technique that I just jumped in head first with! I was much more intimidated by zippers. lol. I'll have to share this post on my page ;-)Thanks again xo

Gorgeous little outfit Pam! Stephanie will look so lovely in it. I tried shirring for the first time recently. I found it so much easier than I expected. I have a bottom loading bobbin so I have no advice there I'm afraid!

Sweet little outfit! You have created a lovely gift any mom would appreciate.My shirring errors were made by me and not my top loading machine. I was winding the elastic too loose. Once I winded the elastic correctly, the machine took care of the rest!

This is cute! I don't have a lot of experience with shirring, but the last time I tried it I had to wind the elastic thread on the bobbin tightly with my machine to get it to work. Everything I had read said to wind it loosely by hand, but that didn't work for me. It seems like it really depends on your machine. best of luck!

Thats so so pretty! I have a drop in bobbin I'm not sure if that's considered top loading but I did a little practise shirring a while back turned out fine, ill let you know when I do some actual sewing